Support groups

Watching figure skater Adam Rippon compete, it’s easy to forget that he’s on skates. His dramatic, sharp movements – and facial expressions to match–emulate those of a professional dancer, at once complementing and contradicting his smooth, unfettered movement along the ice. He hides the technical difficulty of every jump and spin with head-flips and a commanding gaze, a performer as well as an athlete. But there’s one thing Rippon won’t be hiding – this year, he and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy will become the first openly gay American men to ever compete in the Winter Olympics.

According to EURACTIV.COM WITH AFP, Romania’s constitutional court ruled on September 27, 2018 that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that runs counter to a referendum next month seeking to interdict gay marriage. The court said gay couples had the same rights to a private life and a family life as heterosexuals and thus should “benefit, in the long term, from legal... recognition of their rights and obligations”. However, the upcoming October, 2018 referendum is seeking to limit the constitutional definition of family to heterosexual, married couples.

A landmark judgment by India’s highest court has overturned a colonial-era law that criminalizes consensual gay sex, in a long-fought for victory for the LGBTQ community. The five-judge bench reached a unanimous decision Thursday in the capital New Delhi. Delivering his decision, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said, “The LGBTQ community has the same fundamental rights as citizens. The identity of a person is very important and we have to vanquish prejudice, embrace inclusion and ensure equal rights.” “Intimacy and privacy is a matter of choice. We have to bid adieu to stereotypes and prejudices,” he said. The court verdict is a major milestone for LGBTQ-identifying people across the country, where homosexuality remains a social taboo and gay people face endemic discrimination.

The Gay Games is a world-class sport and cultural festival organized by the LGBT community every 4 years. Everyone is welcome to participate regardless of sexual orientation, ability, gender, age or race. The Gay Games were intended, in the spirit of Tom Waddell, to build bridges between heterosexual and LGBT sports associations and to go beyond sport to give birth to an ambitious social project.

Hundreds of thousands of students, parents, teachers and their supporters took to the streets on March 24, 2018 in a mass show of force in favor of gun control and school safety. More than 800 marches across the U.S. and around the world took place in support of the main March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. that was organized by survivors of the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Here’s what it looks like on the ground, from London and Paris to Sao Paulo and Miami.